Carpenters’ Asbestos Exposure

Almost every product used by carpenters before the mid-1970s had the potential to contain asbestos. Without sufficient protection or prior warning, many carpenters and construction workers spent day after day breathing in deadly asbestos fibers.

Medical researchers knew as early as the 1930s that breathing airborne asbestos could cause a variety of serious lung diseases, such as mesothelioma. Although many manufacturers have phased out virtually every product that contains asbestos over the past couple decades, contaminated building materials still exist at countless jobsites, placing carpenters at serious risk of illness or death.

Common Carpentry Products Containing Asbestos

Until the late 1970s, asbestos was often used in many common materials in the commercial, residential and maritime construction industries. Manufacturers added asbestos to thousands of different products to make them stronger and more fire-resistant. Working alongside a variety of different tradespeople, carpenters often encountered this toxic substance, which was a component in materials such as:

Joint Compound

Finishing Cements

Patching Plasters

Insulating Panels

Cement Asbestos Board

Spray-On Insulation

Floor Tiles

Roofing Material and Siding

Working in close proximity with these materials, carpenters performed routine tasks such as hammering, sawing, or sanding which often caused asbestos particles to be released in the air.

Types of Construction Workers at Risk of Asbestos Exposure

Several types of construction workers may have been exposed to asbestos. These workers include, but are not limited to:

Drywall Workers
Drywall workers are at high risk for asbestos-related diseases. Many of the materials they used daily, such as drywall tape, joint compound and textures, often contained asbestos. Mixing or sanding these asbestos materials released asbestos fibers into the air on many job sites. Plasters also patched holes in drywall with asbestos compounds. Dry-sweeping after project completion caused even greater levels of asbestos exposure.

Masons and Bricklayers
Masonry workers once mixed raw asbestos into compounds for bricks, stones or blocks. After preparing these materials, bricklayers faced additional exposure hazards by cutting them down to size and securing them in place with asbestos adhesives or concretes. Masonry workers may also have created asbestos dust by scraping up dry, asbestos-containing mortar to prep the surface for new bricks.

Painters
Many of these workers sprayed asbestos spackling compounds on surfaces before they painted them. A few of the workers even used asbestos paint or textured coatings that listed asbestos as an ingredient.

Asbestos and the Carpentry Industry Today

Demolition or renovation projects on older buildings, especially structures built before the 1970s, pose a continued asbestos exposure risk for carpenters. Asbestos dust can spread around jobsites easily and expose people who never even handled asbestos directly. Even worse, workers can bring the dust home on their clothes, hair or tools, placing their families at risk of secondary exposures that can be just as deadly.

Simmons Hanly Conroy Helps Carpenters and Their Families

Simmons Hanly Conroy cares passionately for victims of mesothelioma and has devoted nearly a decade of our practice towards helping these individuals find justice, and oftentimes compensation, for their suffering and family trauma. Our pro-bono work, advocacy for mesothelioma victims, and support for mesothelioma research are all ways we strive to battle mesothelioma and make the world a better, healthier place. If you or a loved one is dealing with the effects of asbestos exposure related to carpentry work, please fill out the form below to schedule a free legal consultation.

Disclaimer & Privacy PolicyThe contents of this website should not be construed as legal advice on any specific fact or circumstance. Its content was prepared by Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC (an Illinois law firm organized as a limited liability company with its principal office at One Court Street, Alton, IL 62002, Ph 1-877-318-0580) for general information purposes only. Your receipt of such information does not create an attorney-client relationship with Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC or any of its lawyers. You should not act or rely on any of the information contained here without seeking professional legal advice. Prior results referred to in these materials do not guarantee or suggest a similar result in other matters. Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC's lawyers are licensed in Illinois and a limited number of other jurisdictions. They and the firm cannot file actions in all states without associating locally licensed attorneys and/or becoming admitted in that jurisdiction for a limited purpose. Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC lawyers responsible for the contents of this website are Michael Angelides and Nicholas Angelides. (Please read our full privacy policy and disclaimer).